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Cautionary Note 44 – You’d have to be stupid to buy a badly built apartment!

April 11, 2003

Based on data collected from inspection of over 50,000 buildings we issue the following advice. Buying an apartment of acceptable building quality is not as easy as many people think. Rather, the quality of the 5,000 apartment complexes Tyrrells have inspected depends upon: developer’s budget, management team and building experience contractor’s quality assurance process and [...]

Cautionary Note 43 – Changes in Home Building Warranty Insurance

May 1, 2002

Based on data collected from inspection of over 50,000 buildings we issue the following advice. From the 2 April 2002 the Department of Fair Trading has made a number of changes to the Home Building Warranty Insurance. We have prepared a summary of the changes in the following Table. Issue Prior to 2.2.2002 After 2.2.2002 [...]

Cautionary Note 42 – Unsafe as houses…

February 1, 2002

Based on data collected from inspection of over 48,000 buildings we issue the following advice. Hazards in buildings are a fact of life. They can be easily prevented if purchasers are properly advised about and owners identify these liabilities before an unnecessary accident occurs. Twenty years ago when Tyrrells were developing the best way to [...]

Cautionary Note 41 – What clients want

November 1, 2001

Based on data collected from inspection of over 45,000 buildings we issue the following advice. Tyrrells has assisted with over 5000 building disputes and claims against contractors, architects and consultants. The lessons learnt from these matters are not surprising. Win or lose, consumers are usually very unhappy with the process; say they will never be [...]

Cautionary Note 40 – Why home building warranty insurance will never work

June 1, 2001

Based on data collected from inspection of over 45,000 buildings we issue the following advice. We have been watching the delivery of home building warranty insurance (HBWI) for consumers building or renovating their home for over 20 years. This insurance was provided by the Department of Fair Trading (DFT) until 1 May 1997 and by [...]

Cautionary Note 39 – Are your experts insured?

October 1, 2000

Based on data collected from inspection of over 45,000 buildings we issue the following advice. Increasingly, legal clients are telling us horror stories about the consequences of uninsured advice. Even experts make mistakes. Sometimes customers can be unreasonable about what they are expecting from their advisors. However, the increase in liability claims against building, and [...]

Cautionary Note 38 – Assessment of timber pest damage

August 14, 2000

Based on data collected from inspection of over 45,000 buildings we issue the following advice. Property and timber pest reports may indicate that a property has been affected or damaged by timber pests. These reports will routinely advise further investigation of the damage. However, this advice can: commonly appear unimportant and be obscured in the [...]

Cautionary Note 37 – Check behind the DFT insurance

December 1, 1998

Based on data collected from inspection of over 35,000 buildings we issue the following advice. Our previous Cautionary Note 33 summarised the main changes in insurance for building consumers from the 1 May 1997. Since then, we have been alerted to many problems facing these consumers and their advisers including: Building contractors may not necessarily [...]

Cautionary Note 36 – There’s no need for INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

August 1, 1998

Based on data collected from inspection of over 35,000 buildings we issue the following advice. Solicitors are increasingly called to obtain expert reports in the many areas of negligence. As building consultants, we find that some clients are disadvantaged because vital evidence has been destroyed, disturbed or not properly recorded. Sometimes, matters can be reconstructed [...]

Cautionary Note 35 – Uninsured advice can be costly

July 1, 1998

Based on data collected from inspection of over 35,000 buildings we issue the following advice. We are aware of a number of cases or claims where the building or pest consultant were uninsured. This has led to considerable complications and hardship for clients and loss of reputation for their legal advisers. In one case, the [...]